Tribesports User of the Week: Aurelie L

This was taken in Peru, along the Inca trail couple of months ago. I have always wanted to visit Peru and do the Inca trail, and finally 2012 saw it happened. This picture is taken at the top of Dead Woman Pass, after 5 hours of ascent. I was so happy to get there, and felt so proud. I highly recommend this trip to people who loves trekking, nature and a bit of a challenge!

With unlimited funds, what Challenge would you take on?

With unlimited funds (and unlimited holidays), I would take on all the trekking challenges, starting with “climb to Everest base camp”, and following by Kilimanjaro and Mont Fuji. I had never done trekking until last year when I went to Iceland for a week of trekking on the volcano and I just love it. Love the walking, love the feeling when you get to the top.

Love the range of your Challenges - from skydiving to SCUBA, pilates to spinning - what has been your favourite Challenge?

I think that of all the challenges, my favourite challenges are the “sleeping ones” - take a nap, get 7/8/9 hours of sleep, commit to a sleep cycle, Treat yourself to a good night’s sleep... I love my sports and my physical activities, but I adore my sleep!

What will the next adventure be?

My next adventure will probably be to enter the marathon world... For the past couple of years, I have fixed the limit at half-marathon, but actually, the more I run, the more I am thinking about it. Next year I am turning 30, so that could be the trigger to actually taking part in a marathon. If that happens, it will probably be the Marathon du Medoc...

In your bio you say you're aiming to improve your half marathon time - what would be your best tip to shaving off time?

Speed and getting faster has been my main goal this year. I have started on shorter distances but now is the time of half-marathon training. My best tip for shaving off time is to integrate interval training as part of the whole training routine – on a track or on a treadmill, once a week, or every other week. These are usually the toughest training sessions, but the results are there to prove their efficiency. Check out the Interval training or Speedsters tribes for more advices.

A second tip would be to believe in the fact that, YES, you can run faster, and YES, you can finish the race at this pace! Lack of confidence is sometimes more difficult to overcome, and needs training too.

You ran British 10K was at the beginning of July, how did it feel to run some of the route of the Olympic marathon?

It did feel great to run this race, knowing that it is part of the Olympic route. It is like being part of a great family of road runners. I have run the British 10K for the last 3 years now, and I absolutely enjoyed every single bit of this race. The route takes you through some of the best spots in London, and it is great to see it without any traffic.

I have been thinking a lot about it recently, but I haven’t done it yet. I can see that there is more and more people running barefoot, and after suffering from shin splints, I am thinking why not!

You recently completed the Try-A-Tri Challenge - will you be taking on more do you think?

Actually I completed that challenge last weekend, when for the first time I did the 3 sports back to back on the same day. I thought I would give it a try, and even if I was completely shattered after it, I have to say that I did enjoy it very much. So maybe, yes I will do more triathlon in the coming months / years.

Which Tribesports users inspire you?

Lots of them. I will start with Tim S as he is the one that inspire me every day. He is the one who got me into Tribesports, and he is my champion.

My favourite quote if from Christopher McDougall’s bookBorn to Runwhen Caballo was teaching him how to run ‘ultra’.

“Think Easy, Light, Smooth and Fast. You start with easy, because if that’s all you get, that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don’t give a shit how high the hill is or how far you’ve got to go. When you’ve practiced so long that you forget you’re practicing, you work on making it smooth. You won’t have to worry about the last one - you get those three and you’ll be fast”

Congratulations Aurelie, very well deserved. So jealous that you've done the Inca Trail - one of my dreams, hopefully it won't be too long before it's realised :) Very honored to get a mention - you are an inspiration :))